Beach bacteria rises in fall

Dec. 2, 2013

Updated Dec. 3, 2013 8:36 a.m.

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Hans Tritten, an environmental health specialist for the city of Long Beach, collects a water sample from the ocean along Long Beach City Beach to test for harmful bacteria on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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An example of a warning sign is posted along Long Beach City Beach on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. The sign would indicate high levels of harmful bacteria present in the water. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Hans Tritten, an environmental health specialist for the city of Long Beach, collects a water sample at the Colorado Lagoon as fisherman Richard I. fishes for bait on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. Tritten says that after the lagoon went through a restoration project to deal with storm drainage water, the levels of harmful bacteria have remained at safe levels. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Hans Tritten, an environmental health specialist for the city of Long Beach, collects a water sample from the ocean along Long Beach City Beach to test for harmful bacteria on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Hans Tritten, an environmental health specialist for the city of Long Beach, collects a water sample from the ocean along Long Beach City Beach to test for harmful bacteria on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Margaret Lira, a public health microbiologist for the city of Long Beach, takes a water sample gathered by Hans Tritten, right, to begin testing for levels of harmful bacteria in the water lab at the Long Beach Department of Public Health on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Margaret Lira, a public health microbiologist for the city of Long Beach, shines ultra violet light on samples of ocean water to determine levels of bacteria at the water lab at the Long Beach Department of Public Health on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. Lira says for each packet of "cubes," it is normal and safe for two or three cubes to contain bacteria colonies. If more cubes reacted to the UV light, it would indicate a high level of harmful bacteria present in the ocean water where the sample was taken. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Hans Tritten, an environmental health specialist for the city of Long Beach, collects a water sample from the ocean along Long Beach City Beach to test for harmful bacteria on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2013. JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

VOICES

Hans Tritten, Long Beach environmental health specialist:

“At the end of August and into September and October, we’re getting tons of hits, and the beaches are lighting up. I don’t know what it is, but we do get some high tides this time of the year, and the seaweed and bird waste along the rack line (high tide line) could be getting pulled down and causing higher readings.”

WEEKLY TESTS

The City of Long Beach conducts weekly tests for three types of bacteria at its beach locations.

• Total coliform: Originates from many sources including soil, plants, animals and humans.

• Fecal coliform (E. coli): Found in the fecal matter of mammals and birds.

• Enterococcus: Found in the fecal matter of mammals and birds.

These "indicator" bacteria are not usually the cause of illness, but when these bacteria are in high numbers, they warn of the potential for water contamination with other bacteria, viruses and protozoa that do pose a health risk to humans.

Effects: Potential illnesses from bathing in water with increased bacterial concentrations include stomach flu, eye and ear infections, upper respiratory infection and major skin rash.

Graphics

Everyone knows to stay out of the ocean after the first rain of the season, but in Long Beach, it might be to wise to tack on a rule to stay out of the water in the months of September and October.

While the late summer and early fall months can mark many of the year’s best beach days for locals eager to hit beaches void of the tourist crowds, they have also been chalking up some poor water quality grades the past couple of years.

“The season’s first rain for the region came Oct. 9, but we saw a number of locations in Long Beach exceed state standards in mid-September,” said Mike Grimmer, database analyst for Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card.

The report assigns letter grades ranging from “A+” to “F” for each test site, with the lower grades stemming from increased levels of three strains of bacteria. The bacteria are indicators of when potentially harmful pathogens could be in the water that are known to make bathers ill.

For Long Beach, the battle for cleaner water has been an ongoing struggle, as studies have demonstrated that the Los Angeles River, with its more than 100 square miles of drainage, is the predominant pollution source of fecal bacteria to Long Beach.

During the wet winter months, rain washes pollutants from upland storm drains down the river and into Long Beach, often leading to beach closures. But in the dry summer months, a different problem appears to be plaguing the city’s beaches.

Nelson Kerr, bureau manager at the city’s Department of Health and Services, has been watching closely.

“What we’re seeing are slight exceedences of the state standards for certain bacteria – nothing like when there’s a sewage spill or a large rain storm – and nothing that would warrant a closure,” Kerr said, adding that all of the sites passed water quality testing the following day.

But for four weeks from Sept. 17 to Oct. 15, all nine beach sites stretching from Shoreline Marina’s breakwater south to the Alamitos Bay entrance recorded “D” or “F” grades – a trend that appears to be repeating over the past three years.

Looking at September and October from 2011 to 2013, Kerr acknowledged “sporadic hits” in dry-weather testing at Long Beach’s nine beach sites, but couldn’t pinpoint a reason.

Kerr said there wasn’t a “smoking gun” at this point, but he did suggest a number of possibilities that could lead to the bad water quality grades in the fall months.

One of the more interesting hypotheses involved the Harvest Moon high tides, which could be creating flows farther up the beaches and storm systems than normal, pulling debris back into the ocean.

Studies conducted by the city have shown that enterococcus -- a bacteria regularly inhabiting human waste -- is capable of re-growing in storm drain systems. So, when a higher-than-normal tide recedes, it could be bringing back higher levels of bacteria to the beaches along with it.

“Do we know that was the case for sure? No,” Kerr said.

September and October’s declining water quality numbers are even more perplexing when viewed alongside Long Beach’s recent trend of improving results at its beaches and harbors.

In Heal the Bay’s 2013 Beach Report Card, the report summed up six years of steadily improved water quality grades for the city dating back to 2007. That year, the report showed only 12 percent of the city test sites receiving “A” and “B” grades compared to 2012, when the number rose to 77 percent reaching the “A” and “B” levels.

The improved grades are due in large part to the increasing amount of funding for water quality projects provided by the state and city. The 13-acre Colorado Lagoon underwent an $8.5 million restoration, receiving “A” grades in the winter testing months of 2012, dropping off Heal the Bay’s “Beach Bummers” list for the first time in three years.

Additionally, Long Beach’s wet weather water quality – where tests are conducted within 72 hours of a rain event – improved drastically in 2012, with 46 percent of Long Beach’s testing sites recording “A” or “B” grades, compared to zero “A” and “B” grades in the last five years.

Now, the city has received a $4.9 million grant from the State Water Resources Control Board to install three Low Flow Diversion systems and two Vortex Separation systems along its waterfront sewer and storm drain system, which will reduce the amount of contaminated storm water and urban runoff from reaching the coast without first being treated.

As far as the water quality for the city’s beaches in September and October, one source is always working against water quality: The Los Angeles River.

Its flow, monitored by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works’ Flood Control District, is recorded at multiple stations along the river, with the closest to Long Beach’s waterfront at W. Wardlow Road.

Despite consistent flows reaching Long Beach, the state only requires water quality testing of the river when there is a certain level of storm flow, triggered by a quarter-inch storm event.

“For September, there wasn’t enough flow to trigger sampling,” said Los Angeles County Public Works spokesman Kerjon Lee.

Even without rain events, water treatment plant discharges and urban runoff from upland cities makes its way down the river’s pathway, eventually exiting near Long Beach.

“I know it didn’t rain in September, but I also know the Los Angeles River didn’t stop flowing either,” Kerr said. “That’s a constant source of contamination for us, and something that’s going to take the collaboration of multiple cities to impact.”

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